On March 15-17, 2017, the American Society for Experimental Neurotherapeutics (ASENT) held its 19th Annual Meeting in Rockville, MD. The meeting brought together clinical investigators, pharmaceutical industry sponsors, officials from drug regulatory agencies, and patient advocacy organizations to address and advance the science of neurotherapeutics.

On Friday, March 17th, HP&M’s Kurt R. Karst presented on repurposing drugs, including providing an overview of the regulatory pathways for repurposed drugs, legislative attempts o address repurposing (e.g., the OPEN Act), and the current environment surrounding orphan drugs and drug repurposing. Late breaking topics discussed included the proposed OPEN Act and the recent Congressional inquiry into potential abuses of the Orphan Drug Act (see our previous post here). Slides from Kurt Karst’s presentation are available here.